Getting the most out of what your hospital has now: 20 Questions to Assess Your Hospital’s Operational Efficiency
How do you know if you’re getting the most out of the resources you have?
Here’s a hint.
Unless you utilize a real-time capacity management solution, you probably aren’t.
Over 800 of the nation’s hospitals have fine tuned their operational efficiency through automation, and many of those are ranked as top hospitals in the latest surveys by U.S. News & World Report, Thomson Reuters, or Becker’s or are honored with Magnet designation or Malcolm Baldridge recognition. These hospitals are getting the most out of their existing space, realizing higher performance efficiency, cost savings and revenue production.
But there is another way to tell.
Just run down the following checklist. These 20 assessment questions will give you an idea as to whether or not it is time to transform your hospital.
[ ] Is your current patient placement process managed with automation?
[ ] Is the patient placement office (bed control) operational 24/7 for consistency and continuity?
[ ] Is bed turnover automated?
[ ] Is housekeeping notified immediately when patients are discharged?
[ ] Does housekeeping clean empty beds on a 24/7 basis?
[ ] Is patient transport centralized and operational 24/7?
[ ] Are more than 50% of your discharged patients escorted by a hospital transporter?
[ ] Do you receive consistent, timely identification of pending/confirmed discharges?
[ ] Is case management involved in correct admission status determination?
[ ] Is your discharge process running smoothly? i.e., are 20% of patients discharged by 1100 and 50% before 1300?
[ ] Are “left without being seen”, overcrowding and/or wait times a problem in your ED?
[ ] Length of Stay: are patients staying longer than DRGs would proscribe?
[ ] Are PACU overcrowding, OR Hold and/or delay or cancelling of cases an issue?
[ ] Is your transfer center automated and interfaced with patient placement software?
[ ] Do you have a “one call – that’s all” philosophy to expedite inter-facility and direct admission transfers?
[ ] Are inter-facility and direct admission transfers currently a centralized process – i.e., one area to contact for acceptance?
[ ] How do you prevent readmission? Do you track patterns?
[ ] Hospital Acquired Infection: Do prevention efforts primarily focus on hand-washing?
[ ] Do you have processes in place to eliminate hiding and hoarding of mobile medical equipment?
[ ] Are you throwing out costly medications because the hospital’s refrigerator temperature control is inadequate?
If you checked three or more items, your hospital most likely would benefit from the workflow improvements TeleTracking delivers through its software and consulting offerings.
To get a more detailed perspective, why not fill out our ROI estimator (or, for additional perspective, read Patient Flow ROI Estimator For Value of Increasing Annual Bed Turns) or take advantage of our special offer:
This will allow us to personalize your experience on TeleTracking.com. Of course, we will never sell your information and you can opt-out at any time. Need help now? Contact a Patient Flow expert.
You're about to leave this website, to one of our affiliates or another information source.